


Substitute Teacher

by erp001axebircse



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Awkwardness, Bucky Barnes Feels, F/M, Smutty-ish thoughts, Sparring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-20
Updated: 2019-11-20
Packaged: 2021-02-13 17:50:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21498097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erp001axebircse/pseuds/erp001axebircse
Summary: Working closely with the Avengers means there’s always a chance you could end up in harm’s way. As such, Natasha has been training you and teaching you how to defend yourself. But when she leaves for a mission, she sets you up with a substitute teacher.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Reader, Natasha Romanov (Marvel) & Reader
Comments: 3
Kudos: 63





	Substitute Teacher

**Author's Note:**

> Disponible en español [aquí](/works/21651355)

It's Monday. The end of the weekend. The day when people all over have to drag themselves out of bed, dreading the start of another week of work. Most people are like Garfield in that they hate Mondays, but you don't. As far as you're concerned, you work at the best place in the world.

As you are walking back to your office at Avengers tower, you hear a voice call your name and you turn to see who it is.

“Hey, Natasha!” you call with a smile.

You work closely with the Avengers and have become pretty good friends with some of them. Although you don’t actually go on any missions, since all your work is done at the tower, there’s still an inherent danger in working with such a well-known team of superheroes. Because of this Natasha has been teaching you how to fight in case you ever need to defend yourself when the Avengers aren’t around. You've enjoyed training with Natasha. It's tough but fun at the same time and you’ve always liked a challenge.

“I'm glad I caught you,” she says. “I'm leaving on a mission today. I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone but I probably won’t be back until next week.”

“Alright,” you say, a little disappointed but not too much. You’re still a bit sore from last week when Natasha powerslammed you into the mat. Maybe you can go home early today and rest a bit.

“But,” she says, “that doesn’t mean you're getting out of training.” It's like she can read your mind.

“If you're not here, how will you know if I’m training?” you ask, eyebrow raised, curious where she is going with this.

“Easy, I got you a substitute teacher.” Seeing your confused look she smirks.

“Bucky’s gonna take over for me,” she says, smirking a little more when she sees your surprise. “I told him what we’ve been working on so the two of you can just keep going where we left off. You don't have any problems training with Bucky, do you?” she asks, seeming concerned.

“No, not at all!” you say, maybe too quickly, but it’s the truth. You have no problem with Bucky; you like him. In fact you _really_ like him. So much so that you tend to get a bit nervous when he's around. You’ve talked to him a few times but always ended up getting lost in those beautiful blue eyes of his…

“Good!” she says, stopping your train of thought before it leaves the station. "In that case, I have a mission briefing to get to so I guess I'll see you next week."

“Alright, see you then. Go kick some ass!”

~~~

Training with Bucky… oh man. The idea of it makes you both excited and nervous at the same time. You know Bucky and you've talked to him sometimes, but not as much as with the others at the tower. He keeps to himself mostly. You don't have much time to think about it though—you're busy the rest of the day and before you know it, it's time to get ready for training. Maybe that's a good thing; it keeps you from overthinking and making yourself more nervous.

When you get to the training room Bucky is already there. As soon as you see him you start to feel the familiar butterflies in your stomach. Bucky is busy training with a punching bag and doesn't see you come in. He's wearing a t-shirt and shorts and has his hair pulled back into a messy bun.

“Hi, Bucky,” you say, your hands twisting the strap on the duffel bag over your shoulder.

Bucky whips around, startled, but quickly collects himself.

“Hi,” he says, a little out of breath, “is it five-thirty already?”

“Yeah,” you say.

“Alright then, um,” he clears his throat, “let's get started.”

The two of you start by working on the skills you were practicing with Natasha last week, then you move into some sparring. Your nerves calm down as you focus on your training. You're making Natasha proud and holding your own during the sparring session. You aren’t necessarily _winning_ but that’s to be expected when you’re a normal person fighting a super soldier. Both you and Bucky are more relaxed now. You’re able to put your personal feelings aside for the moment and just focus.

At least until he takes his shirt off.

Bucky peels off the sweat-soaked t-shirt revealing the glistening abs underneath. He dabs some of the sweat off his face and then tosses the shirt aside getting back into a fighting stance. This time, as he brings his arms up, you can see the muscles flexing in his flesh arm. You couldn’t help but wonder what that arm would feel like around your waist, his metal hand trailing up your thigh as he kisses—

_No—no—need to focus._ You shake yourself mentally as you get back into fighting position. You start sparring again but, try as you might, you can’t quite shake the naughty thoughts going through your mind. Bucky easily gets the upper hand and pins you to the mat.

His flesh hand has your wrists pinned above your head as he straddles you, one knee between your legs. Your eyes widen as you look up at his face only inches above yours, a few strands of hair having escaped their confines just brushing your cheeks. Your pulse quickens and your breathing hitches. Having Bucky this close to you is mesmerizing. You can see every bit of blue in his eyes. Oh, how much you want him to just close the few inches between you—

Suddenly Bucky jumps up, having noticed how your eyes widened and the change in your breathing.

“I’m sorry,” he says, “I- I didn’t mean to-,”

You open your mouth to say something, to reassure him that you’re alright, but you can't seem to form any words and as you try to stand your legs turn to jelly beneath you. Damn did this man have an effect on you.

At this point, Bucky is getting really worried. Did he hit you too hard? Do you have a concussion?

“I’m going to take you to Dr. Cho, okay?” he says. He then carefully picks you up, his flesh arm behind your back, metal one under your knees, and carries you to Dr. Cho's lab.

On the way there you have no more luck speaking coherently. With Bucky holding you close to his still shirtless chest your mind is right back where it was on the mat. Also, his concern for you is definitely not diminishing your feelings for him.

You arrive at the lab so quickly that you don’t even have a chance to try to say anything else. Bucky tries to tell Dr. Cho what happened but seems to be almost as tongue-tied as you.

“I didn’t think I hit her that hard but- I- I-,” he falters, wringing his hands.

“It’s alright. I’m sure she’s fine, maybe just a little dazed is all,” she says reassuringly. “Why don’t you go wait outside while I check her out.”

Bucky takes a deep breath and nods as he walks out the door. Dr. Cho closes it behind him then comes over to you to start her examination. At this point, you say your first coherent words since being pinned to the mat:

“Holy shit”.

~~~

In the hallway, Bucky is pacing back and forth. He _knew_ this had been a mistake. He shouldn’t have agreed when Natasha asked him to fill in for her. He did say no at first but she convinced him. She said that you weren’t afraidof him—that he was just overthinking things—and that, plus some wishful thinking, had won him over. He should have known better.

He thought that training a bit beforehand would calm his nerves. And it did for a bit, until you arrived and he got nervous all over again.

Once the two of you had started sparring, you seemed happier and more comfortable. So Bucky had loosened up a bit. Maybe Natasha was right, he'd thought. Maybe he was just overthinking it.

Everything was going well until he pinned you to the mat. When he saw the look on your face, he realized something had changed. At first he thought he might have used more of his enhanced strength than he should have, which is why he rushed you to Dr. Cho. But now, thinking back on it, he doesn't think that's what it was. He had been very careful to control his strength, especially when he pinned you. Something must have thrown you off since you had been keeping up with him pretty well up to that point.

He realizes now that he pinned you right after he took his shirt off. Was that it? It must have been since nothing else was different. Was it the arm? The scars? Did they remind you of who he was and what he'd done?

It doesn't really matter. He knows you're scared of him—the way you get quiet around him, rarely look him in the eye. You're always nervous around him. He can’t blame you. He's a monster. A killer. No matter what he does he can't erase the things he has done. He will never be good enough. Never good enough for you.

He decides to go back to his room and stay there, give you some space. Him staying here wouldn't help anything anyway. He would just make things worse.

~~~

Dr. Cho runs a few tests on you while you, somewhat awkwardly, explain to her what happened. She keeps a pretty straight face but you think you catch her biting back a laugh at one point. She determines that there's nothing wrong with you and sends you on your way.

As you leave the lab you look for Bucky in the hallway but he's not there. You're a bit confused, wondering where he went, so you decide to go look for him, to let him know you're ok.

You look everywhere you can think of but you can't find him; he's not in any of the common areas. Maybe he's in his room, you think. You’ve only been up on the residential floors a couple of times before, and just for official business. Would it be weird to go up there and knock on the door? Intrusive perhaps? Maybe you should just go home and wait until tomorrow. That would be best, right? But on the other hand, just knocking on the door probably wouldn't be too out-of-line. He might not even be there anyway.

You get in the elevator and go up. You go to Bucky's room and knock on the door but there's no answer.

“Bucky?” you call, “Are you in there?”

Still no answer. Where could he be? You looked around but it’s a big tower. Could you have missed him? Could he be avoiding you? Maybe that’s it. Maybe he figured out what actually happened. Maybe he's weirded out.

You shake yourself mentally to stop this train of thought as you turn and walk back to the elevator. It’s getting late. It’s time to go home.

~~~

Bucky is sitting on the floor—his back against his bed and his knees to his chest—lost in his thoughts, when he hears the knock on the door. He doesn’t get up. He doesn't want to see anyone right now.

Then he hears you call his name.

“Bucky? Are you in there?”

He looks up in surprise, his brow furrowed. Why would you be here? This doesn't make any sense. His head is spinning trying to figure out what’s going on.

By the time he manages to collect his thoughts, he hears your footsteps as you're walking away. It's probably just as well, he couldn’t face you right now anyway. What would he even say?

He rests his head on his arms as he sinks back to the floor.

~~~

You didn’t get much sleep last night, thinking and overthinking everything that happened yesterday. You weren't sure what to make of it all but you knew that agonizing over it wasn't going to get you anywhere except crazy town. So, you buried yourself in your work and didn’t really give yourself time to think too much.

The day has passed by in a bit of a blur but that changes in the afternoon. Due to your extra focus, you ended up finishing your work much earlier than usual. Silver linings, you suppose, but now you don’t have anything to distract you.

Rather than sit around with nothing to do, you decide to go take a walk, maybe get a snack or something. But, as fate would have it, you're not going to be able to distract yourself for very long.

As you're walking down the hallway, you see Bucky. He's standing off to the side, his hands in the pockets of his dark hoodie, watching the people go by.

You weren’t expecting to see him. Maybe you should turn back. Maybe this isn't the right time and you should leave before he sees you. What if he really was avoiding you yesterday? You'll have to talk to him eventually. If not now then tomorrow when it’s time for training again. You should talk to him but just thinking about it is giving you butterflies.

As you’re standing there, paralyzed by indecision, he turns and starts walking up the hallway towards you. It’s too late to run away. Should you say something? You have to say something. What are you going to say?

But then he sees you and he ducks around a corner down an empty hallway. So does this mean he _is_ avoiding you? Without stopping to think about it, you go after him. You need to find out what is going on here.

“Bucky, wait!” you call.

He stops and you stumble to a halt next to him as he turns to look at you. You try not to get distracted by his eyes. His beautiful silvery-blue eyes. Like crystalline pools of cool, refreshing water so deep you don't know what mysteries could lie underneath. You could just get lost in those eyes… Wait… how long have you been standing here? Shit.

You know you look like an idiot, standing there tongue-tied, and you realize now that you probably should have thought of what you were going to say before following him.

“Uh… hey,” you say.

“Hey,” he responds.

Great start.

“I—uh—I couldn't find you yesterday after—y'know—after training.”

Hoo boy. This isn’t going very well. You clear your throat, try to compose yourself, and continue a bit more coherently.

“So, Dr. Cho ran a bunch of tests on me,” you say, “She said there’s nothing wrong with me. Well, nothing new anyway, heh.” Your attempt at a joke to cut the tension falls flat. Maybe changing the subject a bit will help.

“So—um—are we still on for training tomorrow? Because I read about this move I wanted to try out and—”

“Just stop,” Bucky cuts you off. He's not angry or yelling but you're taken aback by his sudden interruption.

“I know how you really feel about me,” he says.

Your eyes go wide as your heart feels like it’s jumping into your throat. He knows? He _knows_?

“Y-you do?” you manage to stutter out.

“Yeah.”

Of course he knows; he's not an idiot. How could he not know after what happened yesterday? That must be why he was avoiding you.

But, wait. He doesn’t _seem_ to be weirded out or anything. He doesn’t seem mad or upset. Maybe... No, you can't get your hopes up.

“You're scared of me. It's ok, I get it,” he says, looking down.

You can almost hear the sound of your train of thought screeching to a halt. _Scared of him?_ This is not what you expected at all.

“Wait… what?” you say, bewildered, “What are you talking about?”

“Look, I see how nervous you get around me,” he says, “the way you can barely look me in the eye. It’s ok. You don’t have to try to pretend that you’re not. With everything that I've done… I get it.” He doesn't look angry or upset, just kind of sad, as though this is what he expects and he has accepted it. He feigns a smile. “Don't worry about me,” he says, seeing the look on your face. “I see how hard you try to be nice to me, but I also see how uncomfortable you are around me compared with everyone else. You don’t have to do that anymore. I'll see if I can get someone else to take over for your training until Natasha gets back.”

You realize now that he was avoiding you, but not because he didn’t want to be around you. It was because he thought _you_ didn’t want to be around _him_.

“So, um… I’ll just go,” he says. “I hope your training goes well.”

He lingers for a moment before turning to walk away, but you put your hand on his arm to stop him.

“Bucky, wait.”

He turns back to look at you.

“I don’t want to train with someone else,” you say. “I want to train with you.”

Now it’s his turn to look confused. You can't let him keep thinking you're afraid of him. You have to tell him the truth, here and now, even if he doesn’t feel the same way. You take a deep breath.

“I'm not scared of you.” You struggle to find the right words. “It's… kind of the opposite really,” you say nervously.

Bucky has the same look of bewilderment you had a moment ago and seems to be getting more confused by the second.

“I don’t understand,” he says.

“What I mean is… I like you Bucky. A lot,” you confess, wringing your hands. “I… well… I was afraid of what you’d think if you found out, that you might be weirded out or something. That’s why I was so nervous all the time.”

You can almost see the gears working in his mind before everything clicks into place and Bucky realizes what you’re saying. His face lights up in surprise for a moment but it’s short lived as his brow furrows again.

“But… why?” he asks. “Why me? Why not Steve or Sam or… _anyone_ else?"

“Because I like _you_,” you say simply.

“But… after everything I’ve done…”

You knew about what happened to him, what Hydra did to him. It made you sick to think about what they put him through and what they made him do.

“Bucky, I know what you did wasn't you; you were being controlled, manipulated. No one should blame you for something you had no say in. I mean, no one blames Clint for what Loki made _him_ do.” You shrug. “You’re not a bad guy, Bucky. You’re someone that bad things have happened to.”

You pause for a moment; he doesn't say anything.

“I really like you,” you say, “but if you don't feel the same way that's ok. I just thought you should know.”

Well, the truth is out there now. At least now he knows you’re not…

“I do.”

“What?”

“I do feel the same way,” he says. “I have for a while. I just… I didn’t think in a million years you’d feel the same way.”

Now it’s your turn to be surprised as you realize what he’s saying. You feel a smile spreading across your face and see him smile in return.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Is this really happening? Are you dreaming? This is really happening!

“So… what should we do now?” he says.

“Well,” you say, “I already finished all my work for today so I can take off early and we could go see a movie or something.”

“Alright,” he says, “then maybe later we could grab a bite for dinner?”

“I’d like that,” you say, your smile bigger than ever.

Bucky offers you his right arm, like the gentleman he is, and you gladly take it and the two of you walk off down the hallway arm in arm.

~~~

It's hard to believe everything that has happened in just a few days. It all still feels like a dream. One minute you're too awkward to be around him and the next you’re going to the movies and holding hands. Training on Wednesday went a lot better too. The two of you were genuinely having fun without nearly as much awkwardness. The rest of the week has flown by and now it’s Friday.

As you’re walking down the hallway, you’re surprised to see Natasha there drinking a smoothie.

“Hey, you’re back early,” you say.

“Yeah, it didn’t take as long as we thought. They just don’t make international criminals the way they used to,” she jokes. “Why is it that whenever they shoot at Steve they always aim for the shield? Like, yeah, that’s definitely his weak spot. Идиоты.”

You laugh as Natasha shakes her head in mock disdain.

“So how did your training go with Bucky?” she asks and you can’t help the smile that spreads across your face.

“It went great!” you say. “Fantastic! In fact…”

At this moment, Bucky walks in.

“Hey, Bucky,” Natasha says. “You look happy.”

“I’m glad to see you and Steve made it back in one piece,” he says. “Did he at least use a parachute this time? Actually no… don’t answer that.”

“Good call,” she says, “Well, I have to get to the mission debriefing so I’ll see you two later.”

“Alright, see you later,” you say.

You turn to go, Bucky walking with you to your office as he has the past few mornings. Natasha watches as the two of you leave, your intertwined fingers not escaping her notice. Meanwhile, neither of you notice Natasha’s smirk as she sips her smoothie, her plan having worked perfectly.


End file.
